Language Variation Tutorial

Introduction

Welcome to the Language Variation tutorial. In this workshop with Holly, you’ll be learning about some of the different topics that you’ll be covering in your podcasts. This workshop is made up of three sections, to get started, click on the video below

Section 1: Accents and Dialects

Activity 1

Listen to how Holly pronounces the words, and think about/discuss the following:

– Do you pronounce them differently to Holly? If so, how?
– If you’re in school, talk to your classmates and teacher. Do you pronounce them differently to the each other, or the same?
– If you’re at home, see if you can find out whether you pronounce them differently to the people you live with.

Once you’re finished, go back and watch the rest of the video before you start Activity 2.

Activity 2

Try to think of any words or phrases you use that might be unique to your dialect. Hint: think about words or phrases you use that you think other people outside of your demographic (e.g. your age group, region, ethnicity etc.) might not understand.

Bonus Activity

If you have time, click on the link below to go to the Accent Quiz. If you’re a bit pressed for time keep scrolling down to the next section.

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Section 2: Language and Age

Activity 3

Listen to the two speakers from Oldham. The older man was born more than 100 years ago, and the younger man was born in 2000. You can listen as many time as you want by playing the videos below.
Write down anything you notice that stands out about the way they speak. Think less about what they’re talking about, and more about their pronunciations of different words and the words and phrases they use. Now compare your notes. Can you spot any differences in how the two men speak?

Once you’ve finished, watch the video below to see some of the things that Holly noticed, and what I think this tells us about language change in Oldham over the past 100 years.

Activity 3: Answers

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Section 3: Linguistic Discrimination

Activity 4

In your groups, or on your own at home, think about and discuss the following questions:

– Imagine that you suddenly started speaking with a really ‘posh’ accent (like the King). How would your friends, family and local community react?
– Do you think there are any benefits to speaking with a less prestigious accent and dialect? What about the drawbacks?
– Do you think there are and drawbacks to speaking with a more prestigious, or ‘posh’, accent and dialect?
– What do you think we can do about linguistic discrimination?

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Conclusions

Click the button below to consolidate and test your new knowledge about language variation!